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Piacenza |
| Comune di Piacenza | |
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_-_Foto_Giovanni_Dall%27Orto_14-7-2007.jpg) |
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 Municipal coat of arms |
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| Country |  Italy |
| Region | Emilia-Romagna |
| Province | Piacenza (PC) |
| Mayor | Roberto Reggi (centre-left; elected 2007-05-27) |
| Elevation | 61 m (200 ft) |
| Area | 118.46 km² (45.7 sq mi) |
| Population (as of 31-05-2007) | |
| - Total | 99,897 |
| - Density | 843/km² (2,183/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET, UTC+1 |
| Coordinates | |
| Gentilic | Piacentini |
| Dialing code | 0523 |
| Postal code | 29100 |
| Frazioni | Vallera, San Bonico, Pittolo, La Verza, Mucinasso, I Vaccari, Roncaglia, Montale, Borghetto, Le Mose, Mortizza, Gerbido |
| Patron | Antonino of Piacenza (4 July), Giustina |
| Website: www.comune.piacenza.it | |
Piacenza (Placentia in Latin and old-fashioned English, Piasëinsa in the local dialect of Emiliano-Romagnolo) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza.
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Before its settlement by the Romans, the area was populated by Celtic and Ligurian tribes. The Etruscans were well known for the practice of divining by the entrails of sheep. A bronze sculpture of a liver called the "Liver of Piacenza" was discovered in 1877 near Piacenza complete with the name of regions marked on it which were assigned to various gods. It has been connected to the practice of haruspicy. Piacenza was founded in 218 BC (according to the tradition, on May 31), the first of the Roman military colonies, and was formerly called Placentia in both Latin and English.
In Placentia and the nearby colony, Cremona, 6,000 Latin colonists were sent, in particular members of the Equestrian class of Rome. In the same year as the city's founding, Hannibal won the Battle of Trebbia in Piacenza's area, but the city resisted the Punic forces. In the following years the city's territory was drained and a port was constructed onto the Po River. Placentia flourished as a production centre for grain, barley, millet, and wool. Although sacked and devastated several times, the city always recovered and as late as the 6th century Procopius called it Urbs Aemilia Princeps, namely the "Princess of the cities across the Via Aemilia", meaning "first city across the Via Aemilia".
The era of Late Antiquity in Piacenza (c. 300-700/800 AD) was marked by the expansion of Christianity, with the presence of several martyrs. The current patron saint, Antoninus, was a former legionnaire who Christianized the area and was killed during the reign of Diocletian.
Piacenza was sacked during the course of the Gothic Wars (535–552). After a short period as a Byzantine Empire city, it was conquered by the Lombards, who made it a duchy seat. After the Frank conquest (9th century) the city began to recover, aided by its location along the Via Francigena that connected the Holy Roman Empire with Rome. Its population and importance grew further after the year 1000. That period marked a gradual transfer of governing powers from the feudal lords to a new enterprising class, as well to the feudal class of the countryside.
In 1095 the city was the site of the Council of Piacenza, in which the First Crusade was proclaimed. From 1126 Piacenza was a free commune and an important member of the Lombard League. In this role it took part in the war against the emperor Frederick Barbarossa and in the subsequent battle of Legnano (1176). It also successfully fought the neighbouring communes of Cremona, Pavia and Parma, expanding its possessions. Piacenza also captured control of the trading routes with Genoa, where the first Piacentini bankers had already settled, from the Malaspina counts and the bishop of Bobbio.
In the 13th century, despite unsuccessful wars against emperor Frederick II, Piacenza managed to gain strongholds on the Lombardy shore of the Po River. The primilaries of the Peace of Constance were signed in 1183 in the Saint Antoninus church. Agriculture and trade flourished in these centuries, and Piacenza became one of the richest cities in Europe. This is reflected in the construction of many important buildings and in the general revision of the urban plan. Struggles for control were commonplace in the second half of the 13th century, not unlike the large majority of Medieval Italian communes. The Scotti family, Pallavicino family and Alberto Scoto (1290-1313) held power in that order during the period. Scoto's government ended when the Visconti of Milan captured Piacenza, which they would hold until 1447. Duke Gian Galeazzo rewrote Piacenza's statutes and relocated the University of Pavia to the city. Piacenza then became a Sforza possession until 1499.
A coin from the 16th century shows the motto: Placentia floret ("Piacenza flourishes"). The city was in fact developing further, mainly thanks to the produce from its countryside. Also in the course of that century a new wall line was erected. Piacenza was under France until 1521, and later, with Leo X, became briefly part of the Papal States. In 1545, finally, it was included in the new-born Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, led by the Farnese family.
Piacenza was the capital city of the duchy until Ottavio Farnese (1547-1586) moved it to Parma. The city lived its most grievous years under duke Odoardo (1622-1646): 6,000 and 13,000 Piacentini out of 30,000 died of famine and plague, respectively. The city and its countryside were also ravaged by bandits and French soldiers.
From 1732 to 1859 Parma and Piacenza were ruled by House of Bourbon. In the 18th century, ducal family living in Parma, several edifices which belonged to noble families such as Scotti, Landi and Fogliani were built in Piacenza.
In 1802, Napoleon's army annexed Piacenza to the French Empire. The young Piacentini recruits were sent to fight in Russia, Spain and Germany, while the city was spoiled of a great number of artworks which are currently exhibited in many French museums.
The Habsburg government of Maria Luisa 1816-1847 is remembered as one of the best ever seen in Piacenza; the duchess drained many lands, built several bridges across the Trebbia river and the Nure stream, and created educational and artistic activities.
Austrian and Croatian milices occupied Piacenza until, in 1848, a plebiscite marked the entrance of the city in the Kingdom of Sardinia. 37,089 voters out of 37,585 voted for the annexation. Piacenza was therefore declared Primogenita dell'Unità di Italia ("First-born of Unification of Italy") by the monarch. The Piacentini enrolled in mass in the Giuseppe Garibaldi's army in the Expedition of the Thousand.
On June 1865 the first railway bridge for northern Italy was inaugurated (in southern Italy a railroad bridge had already been built in 1839). In 1891 the first Chamber of Workers was created in Piacenza.
During World War II the city was heavily bombed by the Allies. The important railway bridge across the Po River, the railway station, as well as the historical centre, were destroyed. On the hills and the Appenine mountains, partisan bands were active. On April 25, 1945, a General partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement burst and on the 29th arrived at the city troops of Brazilian Expeditionary Force . In 1996 president Oscar Luigi Scalfaro honoured Piacenza with the Gold Medal for Valour in Battle.
Piacenza is one of the most renowned cities in Italy for the arts. It boasts a great number of historical palaces, often characterized by splendid gardens.
Many inhabitants of Piacenza and the surrounding province still use the Piacentine (or Piacentino) dialect, which is quite different from standard (Florentine) Italian as it is a variety of Emiliano-Romagnolo minority language. The different grammar rules and the dissimilar pronunciation of even similar words make it largely mutually unintelligible with standard Italian, with many regular vowels being replaced with umlauts or eliminated altogether. Although there have been a number of notable poets and writers using the Piacentine, it has experienced a steady decline during the 20th century due to the growing standardization of the Italian language in the national educational system.
See also: List of Languages of Italy
Piacenza and its province are renowned for the production of seasoned and salted pork products. The main specialities are pancetta (rolled seasoned pork belly, salted and spiced), coppa (seasoned pork neck, containing less fat than pancetta, matured at least for six months) and salame (chopped pork meat flavoured with spices and wine, and made into sausages).
Bortellina (salted pancakes made with flour, salt, and water or milk) and chisulén (torta fritta in Standard Italian; made with flour, milk, and animal fats mixed together and then fried in hot strutto, or clarified pork fat) are the perfect coupling of pancetta, coppa, and salame, but they are also good with fat cheese, particularly Gorgonzola cheese and Robiola.
Pisarei e fasö is an exquisite mixture of handmade pasta and beans.
Among the culinary specialties of the Piacenza region (although also enjoyed in nearby Cremona) is mostarda di frutta, consisting of preserved fruits in a sugary syrup strongly flavored with mustard. Turtlìt (tortelli dolci in standard Italian), or fruit dumplings, are filled with mostarda di frutta, mashed chestnuts, and other ingredients, and are served at Easter. Turtlìt are also popular in the Ferrara area. Turtéi, a similarly named Piacentine specialty, is a kind of pasta filled with ricotta cheese.
Piacentine staple foods include corn (generally cooked as polenta) and rice (usually cooked as risotto), both of which are very common across northern Italy. Pasta is also eaten, though it is not as popular as in southern Italy. There are also locally produced cheeses, such as Grana Padano, though nearby Parma is more famous for its dairy products.
The hills surrounding Piacenza are well known for their vineyards. The wine produced in this area is qualified with a D.o.c. (Denominazione di origine controllata) called "Colli piacentini" ("Hills of Piacenza"). Main wines are Gutturnio (red wine, both sparkilng or still), Bonarda (a red wine, often sparkling and foamy, made from Croatina grapes), Ortrugo (a dry white wine), and Malvasia (a sweet white wine).
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